Ron Kiser

Name: Ronald "Ron" Kiser

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Grade: 12

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Anime, video games, popularity, basketball, golf

Appearance: Ron is 5'10" and weighs 165 pounds. He has a slim, athletic build; he has bit of muscle built up in his arms, legs, and torso, but it's hard to notice through his clothes. He's Caucasian and has pale skin, with dark brown hair and blue eyes.

Ron's face is considered unattractive by most. He has small eyes and a large, beak-shaped nose. He has a large mouth with thin lips. Ron keeps his hair short and neat, and his face clean-shaven. His eyebrows are bushy; hairs sprout up between them, but Ron meticulously keeps them shaved. Ron frequently has acne. He tries to manage it with various topical creams, but it keeps coming back.

Ron dresses in clothes that are pricey and fashionable without being extravagant enough to draw too much attention. On the day of the abduction, he was wearing a light blue long-sleeved collared shirt, tan jeans, and brown walking shoes.

Biography: Peter and Sarah Kiser were both born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. Peter worked as an insurance agent for a Tallahassee-based health insurance company, while Sarah was a cook at a seafood restaurant. They lived modestly in the early years of their marriage, but shortly after their daughter Eliza was born Peter was offered a high-paying management position at the company's Chattanooga branch. The Kiser family left their home city and settled into a nice house in Frazier's Glen.

They had a second daughter two years after their first, named Rachel. In the following years, Peter would integrate into the local upper-class community, joining the Chattanooga Golf & Country Club where he would frequently play golf with his co-workers. Sarah became a stay-at-home mother for the early years of her daughters' lives, but she eventually returned to work, managing to find a position at a high-class downtown restaurant. Peter and Sarah didn't intend to have any more kids, but when Sarah became pregnant again in 2000, they decided to embrace it. Ronald Kiser was born September 22nd of that year, seven years after Rachel’s birth. Peter and Sarah had a relaxed, permissive parenting style, and they were often busy with their work, so Ron was shuffled between the care of his parents and his older sisters, with minimal supervision or direction. Ron ended up spending most of his early childhood at home, playing by himself or watching television, rarely interacting with children his age. Ron was always anxious when meeting strangers, an issue his parents paid little mind to at first.

When Ron started going to school, he was shy to the point where he wouldn't speak unless spoken to. In addition, Ron was short and scrawny for his age, and terrible at physical games. Some of the bigger, meaner kids began to pick on him, considering him an easy target, and Ron was too scared to resist. His teacher noticed, stepped in to stop the teasing, and told Ron's parents. Peter and Sarah realized that Ron's social issues were serious, and despite their permissive attitude, they decided that they needed to do something to help him. They set up a weekly appointment for him with a child psychiatrist. Ron went to the psychiatrist for eight months, and she offered him help on how to cope with anxiety and how to socialize. At the beginning of elementary school, Ron came out of his shell a bit and made friends with some of the other offbeat kids in class. Peter and Sarah considered the issue settled and cancelled the appointments. Ron was glad about that; while the sessions were helpful, Ron thought they were tedious and he was embarrassed that he had to be taught skills that were so basic to others.

Ron was happy for a little while, but the bullying soon resumed. Other kids would tease him, insult him, and push him around on the playground. Ron would always submit without argument, which only made the bullies pick on him more. By this point, the bullies learned to better hide their misbehavior from the teachers, and Ron himself hid the bullying from the teachers and his parents. He feared that tattling would only make the bullies angry at him, and he felt ashamed that he was still getting bullied after his parents' efforts to help him, blaming everything on his own cowardice.

Still, Ron found solace in his newfound friends. The members of his social group soon developed similar interests. Ron became hooked on anime shows like Pokemon, Dragonball Z, and Naruto after coming across them on television. He would have lively conversations about the shows at school with his friends, and they would sometimes act them out at recess. He began playing video games after Rachel gave him her old Playstation, eventually getting newer systems after begging his parents. This was another thing he bonded with his friends over, spending many of his weekends playing with them.

While Ron valued his friends, it became more and more clear as time went on that his interests and company he kept were only isolating him further from the general student body. It became much worse when he entered middle school. Ron barely grew as he started puberty, while his bullies became even bigger and stronger. Cliques were solidifying, and the popular kids treated Ron and his nerdy friends with more disdain than ever. The bullying increased, and Ron's self-esteem fell. He cursed himself for being unable to fit in, and for being too weak to stand up for himself. He became ashamed of showing his nerdy side in public, and he began to retreat into his shell.

Eighth grade was a turning point for Ron. He had a significant growth spurt that put him at about average height and muscle mass. He quickly noticed people treating him differently, with the bullying becoming a bit lighter. The change was most apparent in gym class; while Ron was still uncoordinated, his growth made him much better at athletics, and he was no longer seen has a liability when playing sports. Ron concluded that his growth spurt could be the key to improving his school life. He reasoned that, if he started practicing, he could be able to get on an athletic team in high school, and that would give him a road into the popular crowd.

Ron decided he would aim for the basketball team, chiefly because he knew that the basketball team was one of the most respected teams at George Hunter High, the high school he planned on attending. Ron began exercising outside of school and practicing his basketball skills, joining his school's intramural team and playing at the park. He started spending less time with his friends as well. After entering George Hunter High, Ron managed to get accepted onto the basketball team. He wasn't able to secure a position as a starter, but the coach considered Ron hard-working and adaptable enough to make him the team's sixth man.

As he had hoped, Ron's place on the team made it easier for him get to close to the other athletes and popular kids. Ron started to spend all his time with the popular crowd. He completely cut contact with his old friends and claimed to have abandoned his old hobbies. He made sure to put himself on good terms with the students who had previously teased him, and the bullying came to a stop.

However, Ron was still socially awkward, and his previous reputation followed him. He was relegated to the outer edge of the popular group; they were willing to spend time with him, but none of them truly considered him a confidant, and many freely teased him and bossed him around. Ron became obsessed with integrating himself into the clique. Since he lacked charisma, he instead tried to get in their good graces by praising and flattering them, doing whatever they told him to, and helping them pick on unpopular kids. This behavior has caused many in the popular clique to accept him, but more as a servant than an actual friend.

Ron has also tried to curry favor by providing alcohol for people in his clique, whether for parties or just for personal consumption. He has used a few different methods to acquire drinks. By asking around school, he has managed to get in contact with older acquaintances-of-acquaintances willing to sell him liquor; he's also learned which stores are lax on checking identification. He has also been able to acquire alcohol through his father and his sister Rachel; both are very laid-back and consider drinking to be a normal part of being a teenager, so they're willing to provide small amounts of alcohol for him and his friends as long as he assures them that he'll act responsibly and ensure the safety of everyone involved. Sarah, being a slightly less permissive parent than her husband, has been left in the dark about the situation. So far, Ron has managed to avoid getting himself or his family into trouble.

Ron had little interest in the Chattanooga Golf & Country Club as a child, only going occasionally to use the pool. In high school, however, Ron started making frequent visits because many of the other teenagers in his clique were members. Peter, a dedicated member since before Ron had been born, was happy to have his son around. Peter began teaching his son how to play golf, and while Ron struggled at first, he eventually became competent at the game. Ron has become closer to his father through golf, and he has been able to use it to get closer to the classmates of his who also play. Ron has never considered joining the school golf team. He enjoys the game mainly for its relaxed socializing atmosphere and has no interest in playing it competitively; also, he doesn't believe that joining the golf team will have an effect on his social standing, so he doesn't see a reason take on the added work.

Ron tried to abandon his nerdier hobbies after entering high school, but he found himself constantly coming back to them in his downtime. Ron still likes anime, though his tastes have changed somewhat since middle school. He still watches action series, but Ron has found himself enjoying cute slice-of-life anime like K-On!, as he finds them relaxing. Ron spends a lot of time playing video games as well, playing mostly single player games from a variety of genres. His favorite games are Japanese role-playing games, which he enjoys for the long, expansive stories. In particular, he enjoys the Final Fantasy, Megami Tensei, and Trails franchises. Ron keeps these hobbies a complete secret from his classmates, as he's terrified of what would happen to his reputation if anyone found out about them.

Ron has a comfortable home life. His family is wealthy and his parents give him nearly free reign to do what he wants. Ron was not particularly close with his parents in childhood, as they were often busy, but he has become very friendly with his father in recent years due to their bonding over golf and Peter's provision of alcohol. In contrast, Ron has distanced himself from his mother somewhat due to the stress of having keep the alcohol a secret from her. Ron is on friendly terms with his eldest sister, Eliza, but their large age difference stopped them from ever being close; she currently lives in Texas with her husband, and Ron sees her a few times a year. Ron is closest to his other sister, Rachel. She is the closest in age to Ron, and is the one who spent the most time with him during his childhood. She still lives in Chattanooga, and they meet up frequently. Ron avoids telling his family about his problems; he's embarrassed by his vulnerabilities and he doesn't want to burden his family with his issues. So, while he's mostly on good terms with his family members, their conversations tend to be shallow.

Ron's reputation at school has remained consistent in the past few years. Within the popular crowd, many enjoy his presence, liking how willing and eager he is to carry out any task they give to him. Some, however, see him as a dishonest flatterer and find him annoying. To most outsiders, he's seen as merely a hanger-on the popular crowd. The unpopular and nerdy kids dislike him the most, as Ron jumps at any chance to join his clique in tormenting them. Many of his former friends dislike him for suddenly abandoning them. Ron does not garner much respect from anyone. Ron is desperate to stay at his current position. His social life is more active than it ever was before, and he's free from the bullying that made his life miserable so long. Ron has convinced himself that the popular kids actually view him as a friend, and that the disdain he gets from the unpopular kids is just the result of jealousy over the fact that he was able to escape his unpopularity. Ron justifies his assistance in bullying them by claiming that the unpopular students bring it upon themselves for being pushovers, using the same arguments he had once used to blame himself for his own bullying. However, Ron is terrified of being rejected and becoming an outcast once more, so he constantly watches his own behavior to make sure he avoids doing anything that could be seen as uncool or nerdy. This constant fear of rejection has gotten in the way of any romantic pursuits; while Ron would like to have a girlfriend, he's too intimidated to ask out any girl in the popular group, and he's afraid of how his clique would judge him if he tried to date a less popular girl.

Ron is a good student, earning A's and B's from all of his classes. He generally finds class boring and doesn't especially love any subjects, but he tends to enjoy history and science more than his other classes. Gym was his most hated class in his younger days, but now he finds it to be a good break from the dreary classrooms. Ron remains a valued member of the basketball team, though he doesn't stand out as exceptionally skilled and isn't planning on playing in college. Ron has gotten accepted into Vanderbilt University, and he is considering pursuing a business degree and then trying to get a job through his father's contacts.

Advantages: Ron is physically fit: he's fast, has good stamina, and is strong. He can potentially ally with the popular students who see him as useful and non-threatening. He can also be determined and resourceful when he has a goal he wants to reach.

Disadvantages: Ron is viewed as self-interested and untrustworthy by most of the school. He has many former friends and bullying victims who may hold grudges against him. He can be socially awkward, and he has trouble building new relationships. Ron overestimates how much the popular students like him, possibly leaving him open to manipulation and betrayal.

Designated Number: Male student No. 069

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Designated Weapon: Fire extinguisher

Conclusion: SIXTY NINE, DUDES! ... Doesn't feel as good as I thought, but still got it out of my system. Ahem, B069 is quick, lasts a long time, and is best in pairs where he can properly reciprocate duties. He just needs to be concerned about the enjoyment of others and not just himself, lest somebody sink their teeth into him. - Dennis Lourvey

'The above biography is as written by Polybius. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Polybius

Kills: None

Killed By: Tirzah Foss

Collected Weapons: Fire extinguisher (assigned weapon)

Allies: Paloma Salt

Enemies: Layla DeBerg, Wyatt Carter, Tirzah Foss

Mid-game Evaluation: Ron's immediate regrets upon waking up were silenced by his resolve to make it through this as he had his social life in high school. Someone else was hiding nearby among the sculptures of the memorial garden, but Ron was immediately found by Layla DeBerg, who he tried to project confidence toward. She was calm, too calm, but he tried to stay friendly and engaging. Danny then chose a lull in their awkward conversation to strike, throwing a rock and breaking a vase to use it's noise as a distraction. Layla attacked immediately, Ron was able to fend her off with a blast from his weapon and retreat into cover, but Layla had scored two hits to forearm and abdomen. He stumbled over a prone Christina Rennes in the process. Her attempt to speak to him was only met with another blast from the extinguisher- Ron continued to run, despite the pain, determined to find safety.

He escaped into the woods, where he carefully dressed his wounds, even keeping the bloodstained pants to perhaps play for sympathy points. He knew he couldn't play to hide- so he wanted to find supplies or maybe allies. He went to the stables, where he stumbled into a less than friendly Paloma Salt while checking the stalls. He was not intimidated by her threats and made another play to smooth talk his way into a less violent encounter, reluctantly she offered him a place to sit, and he tried to swap experiences so far. His attempt to build rapport with her was cut short- Layla had followed him and chose that moment to appear and feign friendliness, further confusing the situation with newcomers in Kayla Harris and Roxie Borowski. Ron rebutted Layla's lies, while also not noticing how Paloma was as little on his side as she was on Layla's. Layla's bluff fell short as she revealed she conveniently knew too much about Ron's injuries- Ron meanwhile postured with his weapon, looking to clear a way to flee. Paloma didn't bother with the formalities and gunned it, and Ron was able to follow along, threatening Layla one last time as he went.

They spent the night hidden in the yacht- morning brought a new set of troubles. Bret Carter and Wyatt Carter, and the revelation that Paloma was actually a murderer from Day One. Intimidated by the Carters' interrogation he tried tentatively to take Paloma's side. When the Carters left their ultimatum- their supplies for their lives, Ron's desperate courage once more came to fore, and he tried to negotiate for their unity as a benefit, Wyatt quickly shot him down with a blunt appraisal of his uselessness. Paloma got the message, abandoned her stuff and made for the exit, but Ron couldn't accept that and continued to desperately reach for any sort of bargain that could be struck. An impatient Wyatt shoved Ron against the wall and threatened him with his weapon- Bret had long since stopped even paying attention and was sorting through their ill-gotten gains. Ron's pleas continued to whittle down, eventually to being left even a day's worth of food, but Wyatt's only response was more belittling and hoisting Ron up to toss Ron off the boat- Ron at that point finally fought back, incensed past his limit. He jabbed an unsuspecting Wyatt in the eye, and reveled as Wyatt was reduced to blindly groping on the floor for his dropped weapon. Ron approached, intent on choking Wyatt to death, grimly determined to take Wyatt with him even if Bret inevitably gunned him down in retaliation.

Ron was gunned down first, but by the last person he'd been expecting, and he was almost exasperated even as he went down.

Post-Game Evaluation: Everything else hilariously gross about him aside, everyone just imagine this: this kid in a skimpy red bikini. You're all welcome for that mental image! - Dennis Lourvey

Memorable Quotes: "N-no, I have a lot to offer, really!" - To the Carters, with the caveat that even he didn't really buy it himself.

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Ron, in chronological order.

V7 Pregame: Prom: The Trip: V7:
 * Go About Your Business
 * I've Got Your Number
 * Playing with Myself on Prom Night
 * Four Score and Seven Furbies Ago
 * Why not me?
 * Gotta Fake it 'till You Make It
 * Mildew and Melancholy

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Ron Kiser. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * It's kind of hard for me to believe Ron actually went out so early—both in that he was a staggeringly well-developed character for the amount of time he was in play (and thus feels like he was around a lot longer), and in that it caught me off guard that he didn't catch a save. I think one of the things that's most impressive about Ron is that he really didn't have that many threads/appearances, and yet his core concept and the tension at play between his desire to attach himself to the "proper/advantageous" clique/people and his desire to be more true to himself. His Prom one-shot, in which he encounters Billy, is one of the quietly better pieces of same-handler-crossover in the version, and it's a shame it didn't get a little more press at the time.

In-game, Ron makes the most out of his time, especially in his first and last threads. He has one of the immortal funny exchanges of the version, and a nicely-handled opening sequence on the whole, and then I'm particularly fond of the way his budding partnership with Paloma is established. I thought the two of them had pretty good chemistry, especially as Ron's tag-along tendencies battled with his suspicions upon realizing his adventure buddy was the very first killer. I will say that the one moment that didn't quite land for me sprung from that, though; his selling of the Paloma situation, and his overall character trajectory, were strong enough that his decision to not follow her and instead to try to ingratiate himself to the Carters came off to me as a bit forced. I think that where it went—his final, liberating choice to discard all his old worries and just go wild—was very nice, though, and his being casually dispatched at the hands of Tirzah added an extra wrinkle of tragedy.

On the whole, Ron's good. In fact, he's good enough that he's probably in the top five on my shortlist of characters I really, really wanted to see get a longer run. I think it's pretty likely he makes the list of semi-hidden gems in years to come, and I hope Polybius feels good about doing really interesting stuff with the time he had. - MurderWeasel